INSTRUMENT OF GOVERNMENT, the name given to the decree, or written constitution, under which Oliver Cromwell as "lord protector of the commonwealth" governed England, Scotland, and Ireland from Dec. 1653 to May The Long Parliament was expelled in April 1653 and the council of state dissolved; the Little, or Nominated, parliament which followed ended its existence by abdication; and Cromwell, officially lord general of the army, with a new council of state, remained the only recognized authority in the country. It was in these circumstances that the Instrument of Government, drawn up by some officers in the army, prominent among whom was John Lambert, was brought forward, and after certain emenda tions accepted by Cromwell on Dec. 16. Consisting of 42 ar ticles, the Instrument placed the legislative power in the hands of "one person, and the people assembled in parliament"; the executive power was left to the lord protector, whose office was to be elective and not hereditary, and a council of state numbering from 13 to 21 members. The councillors were appointed for life; 15 were named in the Instrument itself, and Cromwell and the council were empowered to add six. To fill vacancies parlia ment must name six persons, of whom the council would select two, the choice between these two being left to the protector. A parliament was to meet on Sept. 3, 1654, and until that date the protector with the consent of the council could make ordinances which would have the force of laws. After the meeting of parlia ment, however, he had no power of legislation, nor had he any veto upon its acts, the utmost he could do being to delay new legislation for 20 days. A new parliament must be called "once in every third year," elaborate arrangements being made to prevent any failure in this respect, and for five months it could not be dissolved save with its own consent. The parliament, com posed of a single chamber, was to consist of 46o members-400 for England and Wales, and 3o each for Scotland and Ireland— and the representative system was entirely remodelled, growing towns sending members for the first time, and many small bor oughs being disfranchised. A large majority of the English mem bers, 265 out of 400, were to be elected by the counties, where voters must possess land or personal property of the value of £200, while in the boroughs the franchise remained unaltered. In Scotland and Ireland the arrangement of the representation was left to the protector and the council. Roman Catholics and all concerned in the Irish rebellion were permanently disfranchis ed and declared incapable of sitting in parliament, and those who had taken part in the war against the parliament were condemned to a similar disability during the first four parliaments. The pro tector was empowered to raise a revenue of L200,000 in addition to a sum sufficient to maintain the navy and an army of 30,000 men, and religious liberty was granted "provided this liberty be not extended to Popery or Prelacy." The chief officers of state were to be chosen with the consent of parliament, and a parlia ment must be summoned at once in case of war. The practical effect of the Instrument was to entrust the government of the three countries to the parliament for five months out of every three years, and to the protector and the council for the re mainder of the time. Although the Instrument bristled with possibilities of difference between parliament and protector, "it is impossible," as Gardiner says, "not to be struck with the ability of its framers." Cromwell governed according to the Instrument until the meeting of parliament on Sept. 3, when he endeavoured to obtain parliamentary sanction for the Instrument. Prolonged disputes followed and he dissolved the parliament on Jan. 22, 1655, with out obtaining his object. Regarding the Instrument as still in force, the protector sought for a time to rule in accordance with its provisions; but new difficulties and growing discontent forced him to govern in a more arbitrary fashion. A second parliament met in Sept. 1656, and in the following May Cromwell assented to the Humble Petition and Advice, which supplanted the Instru ment of Government.
The text of the Instrument is printed in S. R. Gardiner's Constitu tional Documents of the Puritan Revolution. See also S. R. Gardiner, History of the Commonwealth and Protectorate, vols. ii. and iii. (1807-1901) ; L. von Ranke, Englische Geschichte (18S9-68) ; and T. Carlyle, Cromwell's Letters and Speeches (1897-19o1) .